Duke Rodriguez's late entry could shake up NM governor race 

SANTA FE — Instead of jumping into the race early, Duke Rodriguez waited and watched over the last few months to see which candidates might enter New Mexico's open 2026 contest for governor.

After several high-profile potential Republican candidates passed on the race, the health care executive-turned cannabis entrepreneur decided to make his move.

"I sat back hoping there would be a stronger candidate that I could support," Rodriguez said Monday after officially announcing his campaign. "Truthfully, that never happened." 

Rodriguez, who in 2010 founded Ultra Health, which would become New Mexico's largest medical cannabis company, joins a GOP primary election field that also includes Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull and first-term state Sen. Steve Lanier of Aztec.

But Rodriguez makes no bones about looking ahead to the November 2026 general election, describing himself as the frontrunner of the Republican field as he plots an unlikely path to the Governor's Office.

"I am clearly not your typical blue-blazer, country club Republican," he told the Journal.

However, Rodriguez has already faced questions about his eligibility to serve as New Mexico's governor, due to a requirement in the state Constitution that candidates must have "resided continually" in the state for at least five years before being elected.

Rodriguez, 68, who owns houses in both Albuquerque and Scottsdale, Arizona, voted in Albuquerque's regular Local Election in October and again this month in the city's runoff election, according to New Mexico voting records.

But he previously voted in both the 2022 and 2024 general elections in Arizona, where he first registered to vote in 2001, according to Maricopa County records obtained by the Journal through a public records request. He has been registered over the past two decades as both a Republican and, at other times, as an independent.

Rodriguez said Monday he's confident the residency requirement in a non-issue, saying he has maintained a residence in New Mexico since first moving to the state as a teenager in 1971.

"I've continuously resided in New Mexico for 54 years," Rodriguez said. 

He also appeared to address the residency issue in a Monday news release announcing his campaign, which was initially launched in a Sunday advertisement in the Journal.

"I grew up here, built my career here, and raised my family here," Rodriguez said. "I know what it means to work in the fields and to work your way up. My roots are in New Mexico — and so is my future."

Cannabis background and campaign fundraising

Some prominent state Republicans have expressed misgivings about Rodriguez's past involvement in the cannabis industry.

But Rodriguez, who remains president and CEO of Ultra Health, previously dismissed suggestions that GOP voters in New Mexico might have hang-ups about voting for a cannabis industry executive.

He has also cited New Mexico's new semi-open primary law, which will be in effect for next year's primary election and will allow the state's roughly 345,000 independent voters — based on current registration levels — to cast a Democratic or Republican ballot without having to change their party affiliation.

Longtime New Mexico political observer Brian Sanderoff said Rodriguez appears to be running as a political outsider.

"I'd be surprised if he were to be embraced by the Republican Party establishment," said Sanderoff, who is the president of Albuquerque-based Research & Polling Inc.

But Sanderoff also described Rodriguez as a "fighter" who plays to win, and there are signs that some GOP voters' views on cannabis could be softening. 

Darren White, who also previously operated a medical cannabis business, recently advanced to Albuquerque's mayoral runoff election, though he ultimately lost to incumbent Tim Keller. While local elections are nonpartisan in New Mexico, White is a registered Republican who primarily focused his campaign on crime and homelessness in the state's largest city.

Rodriguez has also cited crime as among his top priorities, though he also lists guaranteed health care, education and safeguarding New Mexico's public retirement system as priority issues.

Before launching Ultra Health, Rodriguez  served as secretary of New Mexico’s Human Services Department under former Gov. Gary Johnson and was a senior executive for Lovelace Health System.

As for financing his bid for governor, Rodriguez said in May he would likely have to contribute at least $2 million of his own money in order to run a competitive race.

He doubled down on that pledge Monday, saying he stands ready to potentially spend an even larger amount.

"I'm willing to put my own money where my mouth is," Rodriguez said.

The two most prominent Democratic candidates in the race have already reported hefty campaign fundraising hauls. Former U.S. interior secretary Deb Haaland reported in October having raised roughly $6.9 million since launching her campaign in February, while Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman has raised about $2.5 million since announcing his campaign in April.

No stranger to legal battles 

In past years, Rodriguez has been involved in lawsuits challenging medical cannabis purchase and possession limits and the state's stance on allowing non-residents to enroll in the program.

More recently, Rodriguez filed a Supreme Court petition in October that challenged the legality of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's line-item vetoes of a $161 million spending bill.

The Supreme Court this month dismissed the petition without issuing a full written opinion, a development that Rodriguez said factored into his decision to ultimately run for governor.

Specifically, he said the Supreme Court's decision could mean more executive authority for a Republican governor in a state with a Democratic-controlled Legislature.

"Without the ruling, you have a much more weakened governor," Rodriguez said.

But reaching the Governor's Office will be no easy task in a state in which no Republican has won election to statewide office since former Supreme Court Justice Judith Nakamura did so in 2016.

 The Democratic Governors Association, which provided strong financial backing to Lujan Grisham's reelection campaign in 2022, welcomed Rodriguez to the race by attempting to link him to President Donald Trump.

"With Duke Rodriguez’s entrance into the Republican primary for governor, he joins a field of candidates who will have to own Donald Trump’s destructive and deeply unpopular agenda that jacks up costs for working families, puts health care in jeopardy for 90,000 New Mexicans, and threatens rural hospitals, all to give tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy," said DGA spokeswoman Izzi Levy.

"We look forward to making sure that none of them get close to the Governor’s Office," Levy added.

But Rodriguez said he believes Democrats' efforts to tie him and other Republican candidates to Trump could be losing steam, pointing out the state's next governor will take office in 2027 with only two years remaining in Trump's second term as president.

As for his GOP primary election opponents, Hull said Monday he was expecting Rodriguez to run for governor, while Lanier said through a campaign spokesman that "it's great to see Republicans answering the call." 

New Mexico's primary election is June 2, with the general election scheduled for Nov. 3.